Mastercard adds perks for popular T&E and health/wellness spending

The news: Mastercard rolled out new benefits for its small business and consumer credit cards, per a press release.

• Travel benefits. Eligible cardholders will get up to 7% off pre-paid bookings on Booking.com and 10% off scheduled Lyft rides to the airport. Consumer cardholders can also get a statement credit on certain ResortPass bookings.
• Health benefits. Cardholders will receive complimentary access to HealthLock's medical claim monitor service. Consumers can get 50% off the wellness platform Alo Moves.
• Entertainment benefits. Consumer cardholders can also receive a 50% discount on the first two months of a MoviePass subscription.

Why it can work: These perks can help draw in customers because they target segments that are already driving card spend.

• Travel and entertainment (T&E) spending bolstered card volume growth over the last few years, and Mastercard predicted travel and events will remain the top spending categories.
• Roughly 4.7 billion people will fly this year, surpassing the previous record of 4.5 billion people set in 2019, per a forecast by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
• US spending on movies and live performances, meanwhile, grew 31% YoY through September 2023, per Mastercard.

Health and wellness is also a leading spending category.

• Health and wellness is one of the top categories where US consumers show interest in splurging, per a survey from PR firm 5WPR.
• That’s one reason health and wellness was Synchrony’s fastest-growing category in Q4 2023, surging 10% YoY.

Why it matters: Credit card rewards can make or break customer retention, so added credit card benefits can make Mastercard a more attractive network for issuers to partner with.

• Consumers are unsatisfied with their credit card rewards, according to the JD Power 2023 US Credit Card Satisfaction report.
• Gen Z cardholders were most likely of any generation (41%) to say their credit card rewards aren’t up to snuff, per a report from i2C and PYMNTS Intelligence.

Dissatisfaction wears on customer retention: The top reason for switching card providers is to find a better rewards program, according to JD Power. Mastercard added rewards last October and will likely continue to innovate its perks to help issuers attract and retain customers.

Go deeper: To learn more about credit card trends in 2024, check out our 2024 State of Payment Methods report.